The Secret History of Sex, Choice and Catholics

“The Secret History of Sex, Choice and Catholics,” a new documentary-style filmproduced by Catholics for Choice, sets the record straight about Catholic social teaching on issues related to sex and sexuality. Catholic bishops the world over have politicized the pulpit, seeking to drown out the voices of Catholics who disagree with them. This film offers a straightforward explanation of what Catholic social teaching really is on the controversial issues that drive the news cycle-and it’s not simply the dictates of the bishops.

“Contrary to popular opinion, there is more to Catholics’ beliefs than what the hierarchy espouses,” said Jon O’Brien, president of Catholics for Choice. “We put together this film with some of the top theologians in the world to get at the heart of Catholic teaching: that people become Catholics through their baptism and are given both a free will and a conscience to make important decisions. We hope that anyone seeking to discuss ‘what Catholics think,’ how they vote or, most importantly, what Catholics believe, will consider this film.”

Please watch the movie, share it with your family and friends, and let us know what you think via e-mail or on our Facebook page.

An estimated 40 million abortions will take place in the developing world this year. Most of these procedures will be clandestine and unsafe, taking a terrible toll on women’s lives. Every year, 47,000 women die from unsafe abortion and millions more are injured, some seriously and permanently. These deaths and injuries are almost entirely preventable.

To help ensure that the global debate about unsafe abortion and its consequences is informed by facts, the Guttmacher Institute has created a short video presenting key evidence on abortion worldwide.

http://www.guttmacher.org/media/inthenews/2012/10/04/index.htmlThe video aims to inform discussions by policymakers, the public and the media about the provision of safe abortion services—making clear that such services are essential to reproductive health care which in turn benefits women, their children and society. The video makes several key points:

Women have abortions in all parts of the world and they have them for similar reasons, which include being unable or too poor to care for a child or additional children, not being in a stable relationship, and needing to finish their education.

The frequency of abortion has much less to do with its legal status than with levels of unintended pregnancy, the root cause of most abortions. Unintended pregnancy rates have everything to do with whether a woman has access to quality family planning services.

The best way to reduce the need for abortion is not by denying women access to safe and legal procedures, but by giving them the power to control their fertility and prevent unintended pregnancy. Today, 222 million women in the developing world want to avoid pregnancy but are not using a modern contraceptive.

Reducing the incidence of unsafe abortion is a public health imperative. It is the basic right of every woman to be able to make her own childbearing decisions without having to put her health or her life at risk.